BUBLE

25.10.10

Phyto My Scalp

My scalp isn’t the body part I pay most attention to, I have to admit. How often do you think ‘I should probably put a scalp mask on’ or even ‘I’ll pick that lotion up because my scalp could probably do with it’? But a lot of hair problems originate from this invisible wonder so we really all should pay it a bit more love. I was invited to pop into Selfridges for a Phyto scalp consultation with a couple of the guys from the brand who were trialling a new device. Intrigued and already having planned a pampering day with a friend, I dragged her along to be prodded with me in the middle of London’s famous department store.

The Device!

The device they used was not unlike something you’d expect to see in a dentist or surgeon’s office – silver, hi-tech and a little bit Battlestar Galactica. I sat right on display (I mean literally right in the middle of the beauty department for the world to see) while my hair was flicked all over the place and comments like ‘no split ends’, ‘good condition’ and ‘sensitive scalp’ came flying at me. My whole head was fully examined, starting with the hair itself (from root to tip) which overall apparently is in pretty good nick... seeing as I dye my hair to death, blowdry and straighten at least once a day, I have no idea how.

I look very unimpressed here.
My hair also looks a mess post-prodding!

Then came the scary part. The device (I like calling it that, but I have no idea what it’s actually called) was put bang smack in the middle of my head and slowly but surely the image of another world came onto the screen. Nope, it wasn’t Mars or a scene from a Sci-Fi flick, it was my scalp. Super close. It scared me half to death and my instant reaction was ‘eeeew that’s gross’ and a round of ‘what’s wrong with my head?!’ Despite this initial outburst I was assured that my scalp was also in pretty good nick – empty follicles (no grease), multiple hairs from each follicle (thick hair), a clean and good conditioned scalp, although a slight hint of redness beneath which apparently means I’m sensitive. I always knew that. What was most interesting though was that after dying my hair a week before you could still see a lot of dye on my scalp – bad Schwarzkopf. This is the sure sign of a cheap hair dye and shouldn’t happen, so I got a bit of sympathy for that.

Scary scalp. You can even see the dye!

My friend also had a consultation and that was really interesting. She suffers from limp, dull hair and they were able to identify a range of problems which were basically caused by the products she was using (TIGI – full of silicon)and the way she styled her hair (blow dried downwards) – all which could be solved by a simple scalp consultation. Genius. We were both prescribed a range of products to rectify some of the issues we were having (me: itchy scalp, her: limp hair) so I can’t wait to try them (post to follow on that.) It was such an interesting hour and one which will have an impact for a long time to come. It’s a rare thing that a simple consultation can have such a big impact on your life (come on, my life is my hair,) especially if you have some real problems or gripes. They’ll be doing a tour again soon so make sure you keep an eye out for them – I’d advise you taking the time to get prodded by ‘the device’ because you may just find something really interesting about your scalpy friend.